Glitch
by Nitlon
Summary: “Oh, as soon as ‘e gets ‘is crystal back, it’ll be good as new, dear. I wouldn’t worry. Story’s just gotten ‘eld up a bit, you know.” Oops. Killer time to lose something.


Disclaimer: What do we not own?!

"Shit!"

When do we not own it?!

"Always!"

How happy are we about this?!

"Not very at all, sir, yes sir!"

So this fic kind of dribbles everywhere...enjoy, if you please, and if not, well, too bad.

* * *

The Goblin King. Hm. You'd think he'd be…uglier? I guess? Well, at least less sparkly. I see no good reason for him to wear his hair like that. Well, there you have it.

Hang on.

Goblin…King. In Sarah's bedroom.

Children, this is why we don't do drugs.

No, hang on, even if I had been licking toads from the park, I don't think hallucinogenic me could imagine this guy.

He smiles at me, just a tilt upwards of the corners of his thin-lipped mouth, taking a step forward.

"Sarah…"

His eyes glitter in a flash of lightning, a cape the color of night – that's the only color that can apply to it, night – dances around him.

"I have a present for you," he drawls. Wouldn't have thought that he had an English accent. He holds of a hand, gloved in thin leather, the fingers in an up-reaching circle like he expects to balance something there. But nothing is.

He frowns. "What is this?" He looks at his hand again, his mismatched eyes glimmering with malice, and he wiggles his fingers. His thin eyebrows furrow in frustration and concentration.

"Come on." Now fully absorbed by his hand troubles, he brushes past me, around me, to look out at the window. "What's wrong with you?"

I pause awkwardly. So…what now? Do I wait for him to finish?

I take a minute to look at him.

_But the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl_…

You know, Labyrinth, you never asked the girl how she feels about this. I mean, sure, he's pretty in a Fae-way, but I'm not going to go snogging some creep who just stole my baby brother.

It's kind of exciting, to have a fantasy creature in love with you, or it would be if he quit messing around with his hand. Really, good sir Jareth, _what_ are you doing?

"What's going – oh, honestly! Did one of the Fireys take it again?" He shouts out of the window, his voice being whipped away to locations unknown on the wind.

With a bored yawn, I shrug, going over to sit on my bed. This seems like it may take a bit. I'll wait.

"Ehm, Hedgefront-"

"Hoggle."

"Right, that." I can practically see him roll his eyes, even though the king's back is to me. "I don't suppose you've seen my crystal?"

"Don't you have an endless supply?" The other man's voice is hoarse and bumpy, dragging on the sounds like there's a wet balloon in his throat.

"Well, I need the original."

"Sorry, sir, haven't seen it."

Jareth leans out the window, one hand on the wall of my bedroom, one foot on the sill, the rest of his skinny self hanging out in the open, talking to someone (something) to the right of my vision.

"Well, then, Hibble," …Hoggle... "Go and _look _for it."

"Yes, sir, right away sir."

"No dillydallying." His voice is cold as an Arctic ocean.

"Wouldn't dream of it sir."

Jareth swings himself back inside, taking one step back.

He watches me for a minute, no emotion showing on his face. He sighs, gives me a sly smile, turns back to the window and leans on it majestically, viewing his kingdom/labyrinth/whatever.

"You remind me of the babe," he says – or, rather, sings – suddenly.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"What babe?" comes another voice, rough and gravelly and kind of high-pitched.

"The babe with the power," he says again, his voice low and resonating and kind of…well, glam rock.

"What power?"

"The power of voodoo!"

"Who do?"

"You do!"

"What?"

"Remind me of the babe!"

I've completely tuned out and stopped trying to fit logic in here somewhere. I don't like how he keeps saying 'babe'.

"Oh, don't mind 'im dear, 'e'll stop soon enough. 'E's just practicin', you know." A Yorkshire accent filters through the drums and guitar solos, and I jump at its closeness. Have you ever held your finger just above your nose, felt that weird pressure start to build up? That's what just happened to my ear.

Looking to my left, I see a…worm, I suppose, but it's got counter-shading. A pink belly and face are framed on top and on the head by blue, and he's got three little tufts of hair on his head, and huge brown eyes.

"What did you say?"

"Well, you don't think that these li'l dance numbers just come together? It takes time, dear. Now, while you're waiting, come inside, see the kids."

"Uh, no, no thank you, I'm afraid I wouldn't…fit…"

"Dance magic-"

"Dance magic dance! Dance magic dance!"

Wow, he's really enjoying himself over there. Doing a little jig and everything, huh, Jareth? Is this what you do when you aren't pining after underage teens?

"Do you think he'll be a while?" I ask the worm.

"Oh, as soon as 'e gets 'is crystal back, it'll be good as new, dear. I wouldn't worry. Story's just gotten 'eld up a bit, you know."

"Oh." I watch the Goblin King for a moment, laughing and dancing, the jewels and metal on his cape catching the light, bending it and twisting it in ways that modern science would scoff at.

He doesn't seem to know that I'm actually…here.

"Say, Mr…"

"Oh, just call me Reginald."

"Reginald, do you know what I'm going to do with this downtime?"

"What are you goin' to do, dear?"

"I," I stand up. "Am going to go…" I jerk my thumb back, towards the door.

"I saw my baby! Tryin' hard as babe could try!" Oh, my.

"I'm going to go and get a…a knife. Seems like that might come in handy."

"For what?"

"Well, you know, threatening. Other stuff. Goblins don't like…iron? Or is that faeries?"

"I don't know, I'm just a worm."

"Well, it can't hurt."

After dashing downstairs to get a kitchen knife and sticking it in a leather glove so that it doesn't poke me, I stick it in my vest's inside pocket.

When I come back, Reginald is still sitting rather calmly on my bed, and Jareth's moved on to another song. Beautiful. Just great. Still, Hoggle? Can you please find this crystal thing?

"There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes,"

I sigh, and sit down for the performance.

He takes note of my reappearance, never taking his eyes off of me, in fact. Makes me feel like my insides are made of cloud. It's not necessarily a good thing.

"I close the sky…within your eyes…" he continues. I guess I spaced out for a second.

I turn to Reginald, half because I don't like the prolonged look he's giving me.

"You know what else I'm going to get, if I'm going to run this labyrinth?"

He smiles at me and cocks his head to the side like a cute little worm. "What?"

"I'm going to take the book. I think it'll come in handy." Like a how-to guide.

Feeling under my pillow, I fish out the slim, red-bound volume, admiring the gold lettering.

Looking back up, Jareth is watching me with interest.

"But I'll be there for you….as the world falls down."

I give him a little smile, sort of 'nyah nyah we haven't started yet' thing, and tuck the book into my jeans pocket.

As a second thought, I grab my watch from my bedside table.

"Wanna keep track of time, right? Seems like a good idea."

Reginald shrugs as much as a worm can shrug. "I wouldn't go in, if I were you."

"Well, you aren't me, are you?"

He flicks his head back. "Come on, tea's on, promise it's good."

I laugh, giving his hair a little jiggle. "Maybe next time, hm?"

He scrunches up his little worm nose.

"-choosing the path between the stars, I'll lay my love-"

"Uh, Jareth?" Hoggle's back.

Jareth pauses, his eyes still locked on mine. "What?" he asks tersely.

"I, uh, I found…I found your crystal, and everything."

He turns around, again looking at something beyond my vision.

"And where was it, Heckle?"

"Hoggle, sir, and one of the…er…"

"Out with it."

"The chickens took it."

A/N: So, drabble…I don't know, I was just watching the movie and I thought, well, wouldn't it be funny if she had some time to get prepared? Anyways. Make my day. Leave a review.


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